Are the Gallup poll findings in line with your view of the online grocery market? What will it take for a larger percentage of Americans to make the switch from shopping in stores to ordering groceries online?
Interactive Edge’s CEO, Zel Bianco comments:
Let’s face it folks. Online shopping for groceries is a moving target. Will it continue to grow or will it stay flat and perhaps even decline? Even the experts can’t say for sure.
I do see a day where online shopping for non-perishables will be the norm but not for perishables. While Walmart’s use of 3-D imaging on each piece of produce is certainly a development to watch, I think that people who care about what they eat will continue to be very picky about their produce, meats and fish. In many markets, like NYC, these items are too expensive not to. This is backed up by some of the percentages outlined in the Gallup poll. Those with lower incomes are not going to risk receiving perishables that are less than satisfactory. Heck, sometimes you end up with produce that looks less than perfect even when you selected it yourself because you were in a rush. Do you really expect store associates to do a better job at this than we would do? And if the consumer has the ability to reject an item, where does that leave the consumer who needs that item for a recipe for dinner, or the retailer who needs to absorb the cost to replace it?
At the end of the day, online shopping for groceries will grow but at what cost? It will be interesting to watch which retailers jump in with both feet and bet the farm, and which ones stay on the sidelines to see what happens first and then jump in as they have gone to school on someone else’s nickel.
Read the entire article from RetailWire:
Gallup poll says consumers prefer to shop for their own groceries